System and method for processing data with drift control

Abstract

A system, method and computer-readable media are introduced that relate to data coding and decoding. A computing device encodes received data such as video data into a base layer of compressed video and an enhancement layer of compressed video. The computing device controls drift introduced into the base layer of the compressed video. The computing device, such as a scalable video coder, allows drift by predicting the base layer from the enhancement layer information. The amount of drift is managed to improve overall compression efficiency.

1. A method for processing data comprising:
 encoding via a processor received video bits into a base layer of compressed video and an enhancement layer of compressed video; 
 controlling via the processor drift introduced into the base layer of the compressed video based at least in part on coarse and fine motion compensation prediction and macroblock type; 
 transmitting the base layer of compressed video; 
 transmitting the enhancement layer of the compressed video; 
 transmitting a second enhancement layer of the compressed video; and 
 preventing errors from the second enhancement layer from propagating to the base layer based at least on the coarse and fine motion compensation prediction and the macroblock type. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the base layer is transmitted to a first output and the enhancement layer is transmitted to a second output. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , wherein preventing errors is associated with the steps of encoding and controlling the drift. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , wherein controlling the drift further comprises selecting an amount of drift by including control information in the compressed video. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 4 , wherein the control information comprises an error prediction strategy. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 4 , wherein the control information comprises adjustments to quantization. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of encoding further utilizes:
 a coarse frame memory that depends only on the base layer; 
 a fine frame memory that depends on the enhancement layer and the base layer, wherein the coarse frame memory and the fine frame memory provide predictions used in the step of controlling drift. 
 
     
     
       8. A tangible computer-readable medium storing via a processor that control a computing device to perform the following steps for processing data:
 encoding via a processor received video bits into a base layer of compressed video and an enhancement layer of compressed video based at least in part on coarse and fine motion compensation prediction and macroblock type; 
 controlling via a processor drift introduced into the base layer of the compressed video; 
 transmitting the base layer of compressed video; 
 transmitting the enhancement layer of the compressed video; 
 transmitting a second enhancement layer of the compressed video; and 
 preventing errors from the second enhancement layer from propagating to the base layer. 
 
     
     
       9. The computer-readable medium of  claim 8 , wherein the base layer is transmitted to a first output and the enhancement layer is transmitted to a second output. 
     
     
       10. The computer-readable medium of  claim 8 , wherein preventing errors is associated with the steps of encoding and controlling the drift. 
     
     
       11. The computer-readable medium of  claim 8 , wherein controlling the drift further comprises selecting an amount of drift by including control information in the compressed video. 
     
     
       12. The computer-readable medium of  claim 11 , wherein the control information comprises an error prediction strategy. 
     
     
       13. The computer-readable medium of  claim 11 , wherein the control information comprises adjustments to quantization. 
     
     
       14. The computer-readable medium of  claim 8 , wherein the step of encoding further utilizes:
 a coarse frame memory that depends only on the base layer; 
 a fine frame memory that depends on the enhancement layer and the base layer, wherein the coarse frame memory and the fine frame memory provide predictions used in the step of controlling drift. 
 
     
     
       15. A method of encoding data, comprising:
 receiving an uncompressed video stream at an encoder; 
 encoding via the encoder the uncompressed video stream (1) into at least a base layer, and (2) as a drift-aware bitstream; and 
 prioritizing the transmission of the drift-aware bitstream, wherein drift introduced into the base layer is controlled. 
 
     
     
       16. The method of  claim 15 , wherein encoding the video stream as a drift-aware bitstream further comprises utilizing control information for managing drift. 
     
     
       17. The method of  claim 16 , wherein the control information is at least one of: an error prediction strategy and adjustments to quantization. 
     
     
       18. A method of decoding data, comprising:
 receiving a first error prediction depending on base layer information; 
 receiving a second error prediction depending on base layer information and enhancement layer information; and 
 combining the first and second error predictions according to macroblock information, resulting in a prediction that is applied to a video stream. 
 
     
     
       19. The method of  claim 18 , wherein the first and second error predictions are received from a course and a fine motion-compensated frame memory respectively. 
     
     
       20. The method of  claim 18 , wherein combining the first and second error predictions reduces drift in according with an option in the macroblock information. 
     
     
       21. The method of  claim 18 , wherein combining the first and second error predictions eliminates drift in accordance with an option in the macroblock information. 
     
     
       22. The method of  claim 18 , wherein combining the first and second error predictions allows drift in accordance with an option in the macroblock information.